Back Behind The Lens With The Excellent Fujifilm X-T50
Writer and veteran Jon Woz returns to photography with the Fujifilm X-T50, turning London lunchtime walks and three lenses into mindful modern field notes.
Using the Fuji X-T50 To Help Me See The World with Fresh Eyes
Welocme back to Field Notes for Modern Life. I’ve always been drawn to making images. I’m happy shooting landscapes, architecture or anything that catches the eye and stirs the mind. This week I finally took the plunge back into the world of “proper” digital photography, beyond the very capable iPhone 16 Plus that lives in my pocket. The idea is to compliment my writing with some awesome photography.
Researching cameras can feel overwhelming, but it happens to be the year when most manufacturers and retailers are offering some brilliant deals. After a few evenings of reviews, comparison charts and YouTube rabbit holes, I found myself coming back again and again to the Fujifilm X-T50. It is a compact APS-C mirrorless body with a 40-megapixel sensor, in-body image stabilisation and that tactile, old-school control layout that makes you want to get out and shoot. (Fujifilm X)
In the end, price point, features and a healthy dose of intuition pointed me towards a kit built around that body and a set of lenses that cover most of what I love to photograph. There’s the lightweight XC 15–45mm zoom for everyday walkabout work and wide views of the city, and the XF 55–200mm telephoto for pulling in distant details across the river, layering skylines or isolating a single figure on a bridge. (Fujifilm X)
A quick walk to London Camera Exchange and forty-five minutes later I walked out with the camera body, three lenses, a solid bag and a grin that probably said “kid in a sweet shop” more than “responsible adult”.
The Fuji X-T50
The X-T50 is cheaper than it's cousin, the T5. I had the opportunity to by the latter, but I had a budget, and I wanted to buy additional lenses. Fuji Weekly ranked the T50 as nunber two in the Top 7 Fuji cameras. I love design and the camera has a proper old school feel to it.
There is something genuinely therapeutic about capturing an image. It doesn’t have to be the largest building or the bluest ocean. Sometimes it is the way light hits a wet pavement, or the reflection of a crane in the Thames. I love writing, and now I have properly fallen in love with photography again. A good imagination and an eye for detail certainly help, but so does the simple act of paying attention.
I've been experimenting with some close up images using the Monochrome feature, one of 20 Film Simnuations the camera has to offer.
My lunchtime walks along the river already give me a chance to clear my head. Until now I have mostly been snapping away with the iPhone. With the X-T50 over my shoulder I can go long or wide, switch perspective in a heartbeat and experiment in a more deliberate way. It all feels very new and very familiar at the same time, and that is a pretty exciting place to be.
